Title: Learning to Let Go (Learning Series #2)
Author: Cynthia P. O'Neil
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Synopsis
Garrett Andrews has controlled every aspect of his life for as long as he can remember. Whatever he wanted, he took, especially when it came to Laurel Hart. She was the first person to make his heart skip a beat and capture his soul, allowing part of his control to slip, which uncovered his lie and destroyed her trust in him.
Laurel now lays battered and broken thanks to Chase Peterson, a stalker from her college days, who won’t accept no for an answer. Garrett is determined to win her back, obsessing over her care in an attempt to heal both her body and her mind. He will go to any lengths to earn back her trust and teach her to let go of the past, but can he follow his own advice and let down his own walls?
They struggle to overcome their issues and soon Chase is after her again, fixated on staking his “claim” with a startling revelation that links both the past and present. Can they find happiness with each other or is their too much to overcome? Only time will tell if they can learn to let go.
Excerpt from Learning to Let Go, Learning Series –
Book #2
by Cynthia P.
O’Neill:
I was just about
to succumb to sleep when I heard Laurel
scream in terror. I bolted through the
door first and saw her upright in bed screaming, “Leave me the hell alone,
Chase! Get off me! You’re hurting
me! Stop NOW!”
Her arms were in
a protective stance around her, swinging fiercely through the air, trying to
connect with her imagined target, but her eyes were still closed. Oh,
God, she’s having a nightmare of the attack!
I’d hoped her mind would avoid this.
I knew what it was like to relive an event that tore at your heart and
soul night after night, eating up every part of your mind until you felt like
you were going to implode. She may not
want my help, but she was going to get it!
I couldn’t let her suffer through what I did as a child.
I took a
tentative step towards her, speaking in soft tones. “Laurel , you need to open your eyes for me,” I
whispered. “You’re having a bad dream and need to wake up.”
Her body stilled
at the sound of my voice and she started to cry, so I rushed toward her,
pulling her tight against me, holding her while her tears flowed.
Several sets of
footsteps came rushing through the door all at once. Everyone was asking, “How
is she? Did she have a nightmare? Is she going to be okay?”
I felt her
flinch against me at the onslaught of questioning. I leaned in toward her ear and whispered,
“You want everyone to leave?”
She nodded
slightly.
“Do you want me
to go, too?”
My heart was
ready to burst with joy when she barely uttered, “No.”
I held her tight
with one arm as the other shooed everyone out the door.
When the door
closed, she finally looked up at me. The amount of fear in her eyes told me we
had a long battle ahead of us. “Do you
want to talk about it?” I asked.
Her eyes bugged
out and she shook her head. She began to
open her mouth, stuttering the words, “I-I… I can’t…not yet.”
“Would you like
to come to my room? I can prop you up on
some pillows and can keep you as close as you’d like. There’s room for both of
us in my bed, and I promise I’ll do nothing more than hold you while you
sleep.”
I could tell she
was thinking about it and sighed deeply as she answered, “Okay.”
If her dreams
were anything like the ones I had after my parents died, I knew she would wake
often during the night and need someone she could reach out to. I pulled her covers back and carried her to
my room. Her eyes went wide, taking in the sight of my king-sized walnut bed,
decorated with the same burgundy patterns as her bed in Waters Towers
“I happen to
prefer dark, rich colors, too,” I said as I slid her underneath the covers and
gently kissed the top of her head. “Are
you comfortable?”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
Her voice was soft, but still shaky from her ordeal.
I went around to
the other side and pulled on a t-shirt.
Just holding her body against my bare chest made me so hard that I could
hardly stand it. I needed a barrier
between our skin to get through tonight.
This was going to be difficult, at best, but I would put all thoughts of
pleasure aside and focus entirely on helping Laurel recover.
Her eyes watched
every move I made as I pulled the shirt on and climbed into bed. I was there beside her with just our arms touching,
silent and still, when her voice broke with a soft whimper.
“Hold me,
please.”
I turned to my
side and pulled her up against me, cocooning her with my own body. “Shh, baby. You have nothing to fear now.
I’ll protect you with my life. Always.”
I smoothed a few stray hairs behind her ear. “You need your rest. I won’t let any of those dreams, or him, ever
harm you again.”
I watched in
fascination as her breathing slowed and she finally drifted back into a gentle
slumber. After a couple of hours, I
drifted off too, content to have the one person who touched my forbidden heart
back in my arms again.
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About the Author
Learning to Trust and Learning to Let Go Playlist:
Author Cynthia P. O’Neill
:
Pink - Just Give Me A
Reason
Zedd – Stay the Night
Zedd – Clarity
Boyzone – All That I
Need
Cascada – Every Time
We Touch
Katy Perry – Roar
One Republic – Counting
Stars
John Legend – All of
Me
Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko – Stay
Justin Timberlake - Mirrors
Bruno Mars – It Will
Rain
Ellie Goulding – Calvin Harris – I Need Your Love
Giveaway
Review:
OMG! Suspense, drama, sex, hot alpha, should I go on? This book is great. Better than the first! Picks up right where we left off and boy oh boy was I glad after that cliff hanger!
I just adore Laurel. Sh is an amazing character. She is beautifully written and easy to connect to. This book is all about working out the issues with Garrett and Laurel with a creepy stalker to add danger to the mix. I loved the plot. It kept me guessing and on my toes.
This was impossible to put down and I am officially hooked!If you haven't read this series you are missing out. So many great characters and a well written story to die for. This keeps getting better, so I cannot wait to read on!!!
Rating:
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